Portable devices designed for object identification have useful applications in a variety of settings. For example, such devices can be used by visitors to a museum, marketplace, or amusement park to independently identify items or attractions of interest. One conventional approach for enabling the unique identification of objects using a portable device is through the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.
Although reliable, the RFID reader needed to identify objects generating an electromagnetic RF signature can be relatively expensive, rendering RFID an impractical technology for many applications. Consequently, there is a need for a cost-effective solution enabling a user to independently and accurately identify objects of interest.